ICFN = ID Cards for Foreign Nationals, all immigrants need to carry an ID card.
This scheme activated last November and has been enlarged to include further categories of immigrants. There are now 4 categories of immigrants who are required to carry ID cards.
This is all fine. I took part in the very initial consultations and stakeholder meetings on this back in 2002/2003; and further acted as a test subject when they ran a pilot test in 2004. No problems at all.
At issue is how UKBA-issued ID cards are being used both here and abroad. ILPA (who are among the 'good guys') has asked its member law firms to try and get on-the-ground instances of the ID card actually being used for something.
Re your ID card: Did an IO want to see it? Did an employer want to see it? Did the police want to see it? Did an airline want to see it? What for?
While ILPA has privileged access into Parliament and UKBA, the only way to find out exactly what's happening with an implementation is through on-the-ground cases. It's the only way a new policy can be checked for its integrity.
So if you have something to contribute, even if you think it's insignificant, you can tell your lawyer (who will pass it on), or you can send me a pm or email, or you can send it to ILPA directly for all I know.
On-the-ground data is completely anonymous, no details are saved. It is just to gauge modality and central tendencies.
